Clarification from the agency

This is an Internal Announcement open ONLY to Current, Permanent Federal Employees. First area of consideration will be given to the Augusta VA Health Care System Employees; Second Area of Consideration to VA Nationwide Employees and Third is to Other Federal Employees. Other applicants apply under External Announcement# CBTB-12899558-26-CDP for consideration. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor is located in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Southeast Network (VISN 7), VA Augusta Health Care System (VAAHCS) in Augusta, GA located in the Mental Health Service. The Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) serves as an independently licensed clinician within the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) program.

Major Duties include but not limited to:

• Provides brief, evidence-based assessment, intervention, and consultation services to Veterans receiving care in primary care clinics.
• Applies specialized knowledge of integrated behavioral health, population-based care, and collaborative treatment models to promote early identification and intervention, improve access to mental health care, and enhance coordination between primary care and mental health services.
• Independently performs focused, functional biopsychosocial assessments for Veterans presenting with mental health or behavioral health concerns in primary care.
• Provides brief, evidence-based interventions targeting conditions commonly seen in PCMHI (e.g., depression, anxiety, adjustment, stress, insomnia, chronic disease management, health behavior change).
• Utilizes measurement-based care to guide assessment, progress monitoring, and treatment decision-making.
• Manages warm handoff encounters and provides same-day brief interventions as part of the integrated care model.
• Collaborates closely with Primary Care Providers (PCPs), nurses, and other team members to support shared treatment planning and coordinated care.
• Provides real-time behavioral health consultation to primary care staff regarding mental health symptoms, risk factors, behavior change strategies, motivational approaches, treatment options, and referrals.
• Contributes to interdisciplinary team huddles, case conferences, and collaborative problem-solving.
• Facilitates timely referral to specialty mental health programs when clinically appropriate.
• Provides brief follow-up or bridge care to support continuity until the Veteran is established in ongoing treatment.
• Coordinates care transitions across services, ensuring communication of relevant clinical information and continuity of the treatment plan.
• Independently performs suicide risk assessments, violence risk evaluations, and safety planning.
• Intervenes promptly with crisis stabilization strategies and coordinates emergency care when indicated.
• Completes timely, accurate documentation in accordance with VA, Joint Commission, and CARF requirements.
• Adheres to national PCMHI practice standards, clinical guidelines, and measurement-based care expectations.
• Participates in PCMHI program development, quality improvement activities, and data monitoring initiatives.
• Contributes to education and training activities for primary care and mental health staff related to integrated behavioral health principles.
• Maintains professional competencies and engages in ongoing continuing education relevant to integrated care.
• Meets the needs of all customers while supporting the Medical Center and Service missions. Consistently communicates and treats customers (patients, visitors, volunteers, and all Medical Center staff) in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements: The basic requirements for employment as a LPMHC are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. §7402(b)(11). To qualify for appointment as a LPMHC all applicants must:

a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.).

b. Education. Hold a master's or doctoral degree in: Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; or a related field, from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Examples of related mental health counseling fields include, but are not limited to Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/.

NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the LPMHC qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling.

c. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-0183 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment.

d. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

e. English Language Proficiency. LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.j.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of the candidates.

Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, GS-12:
(a) Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex LPMHC experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior LPMHCs must have five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise and be licensed to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs.

(b) Assignments. Senior LPMHCs provide treatment to patients with complex needs including multiple mental health diagnoses, and numerous psychosocial issues, using independent judgment. LPMHCs at this level provide clinical consultation to less experienced staff which may include coordinating crisis situations. Senior LPMHCs will provide clinical supervision to LPMHC staff and/or LPMHC trainees, and may serve as the subject matter expert for the discipline. Senior LPMHCs develop behavioral health related training curriculum and often conduct trainings for clinical staff. LPMHCs model ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness. Senior LPMHCs meet routinely with inter- professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in depth problem solving. Senior LPMHCs collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and frequently serve as a liaison. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation.

(c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

1. Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex mental illness. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Ability to determine priority of services needed and provide specialized treatment.

2. Advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities for Veterans with complex needs. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling, or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial, and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans.

3. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data.

4. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients, rendering professional opinions based on experience, expertise and role modeling effective clinical skills.

5. Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.

6. Ability to engage in written and oral communication with leadership/staff and community stakeholders regarding policies, procedures, practice guidelines, and issues pertaining to the practice of the profession.

Preferred Experience: Working in interdisciplinary teams, brief evidence-based interventions, and brief/focused assessments.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is 12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS12.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Area of Consideration- Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.